GE Engine Failure Caused by Assembly Error
By KATE LINEBAUGH - WSJ
General Electric Co. GE +0.86% said the failure of an aircraft engine on a Boeing Co.BA +1.52% 747-8 in Shanghai was caused by an assembly error, adding a second source of concern about the company's newest engine.
GE told aircraft operators to complete a one-time, hour long inspection of its fleet of 120 GEnx engines in the next 90 days. The inspection will check whether a part that directs air into the rotating blades of the (LP) turbine was properly installed.
The initial findings indicate that "a stage-one nozzle may have been improperly assembled and became dislodged," a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board said. "Efforts are continuing to determine the reason for these observations."
The problem is the second found by GE with the GEnx, which is fitted on Boeing's Dreamliner and 747s and whose design is at the heart of the company's coming generation of aircraft engines. The mishaps are a black eye for the world's largest jet-engine maker at a time when the aircraft market is booming and the battle among engine makers is fierce.
Unless these issues are "resolved relatively soon and decisively, they could cause some problems with customers refusing delivery of aircraft," said William Storey, president of Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va.-based research firm specializing in aerospace and defense...